The present invention relates to surgical instruments and, in various embodiments, to surgical energy instruments such as, for example, radio frequency (RF) surgical instruments and Harmonic surgical instruments. In addition, the present invention relates to surgical cutting and fastening instruments that are designed to cut and fasten tissue.
In various open, endoscopic, and/or laparoscopic surgeries, for example, it may be desirable to coagulate, seal, and/or fuse tissue. One method of sealing tissue relies upon the application of energy, such as electrical energy, for example, to tissue captured or clamped within an end effector or an end-effector assembly of a surgical instrument in order to cause thermal effects within the tissue. Various mono-polar and bi-polar RF surgical instruments and Harmonic surgical instruments have been developed for such purposes. In general, the delivery of energy to captured tissue can elevate the temperature of the tissue and, as a result, the energy can at least partially denature proteins within the tissue. Such proteins, like collagen, for example, can be denatured into a proteinaceous amalgam that intermixes and fuses, or seals, together as the proteins renature. As the treated region heals over time, this biological seal may be reabsorbed by the body's wound healing process.
The foregoing discussion is intended only to illustrate various aspects of the related art and should not be taken as a disavowal of claim scope.